This invention relates in general to lathes and in particular to an improved structure for a face driving center assembly adapted for use with such lathes.
The lathe is one of the most basic of all of the metal and wood working tools. Lathes are designed to support a workpiece between centers or in a chuck and to rotate the workpiece relative to a non-rotating cutting tool. During such rotation, the tool is moved into engagement with the workpiece. As a result, material is selectively removed from the workpiece in order to form the outer surface thereof into a desired shape or profile. Cylindrical and conical articles, such as pins, bolts, shafts, discs, and the like, are often formed or precisely machined on lathes.
For machining certain workpieces, such as vehicle axles and the like having relatively large and substantially flat end faces, it is known to use a face driving center assembly in the lathe. The typical face driving center assembly includes a plurality of teeth or serrations which engage the flat end face of the workpiece to provide a driving connection therebetween. Thus, rotation of the assembly by the lathe causes corresponding rotation of the workpiece. Although several different structures for such face driving center assemblies are known, they have been found to be complicated and expensive in structure and operation. Also, known face driving center assemblies have been found to be unsuitable for use when the end face of the workpiece to be machined is not formed precisely perpendicular to the axis of rotation in the lathe.